I may as well start with something I know well. When I started out as a freelance writer 20 years ago, things were very different. I wrote mostly for magazines, and I had to rely on snail mail to send out drafts and queries. I’d wait weeks for a response from my editors. Not many people had the patience for it, and few stuck around long enough to ever start earning a real income from it.
Make Money At Home By Becoming A Transcriptionist: In 2007, Janet started working from home as a medical transcriptionist for others. Shortly after that, she started a successful general and legal transcription business. While running her business, the idea of a course popped up. Janet now teaches others in her online course how to transcribe online and work from home as a transcriptionist. Learn more about how you can become a transcriptionist here.

One of the best ways to find transcription and editing jobs is to look at your current network. If a friend is a doctor or nurse, ask the name of their transcription service. Are they happy with the company they work with? Reach out to small private practices in your area. Also consider law firms and other groups who may need transcription services. With today’s complicated medical privacy laws in place, doctors are much more careful about who’s typing and viewing their patients’ medical records.

You knew I had to start here, right? Given the success of Living Well Spending Less, I am a huge proponent of blogging. Not only is it fun and interesting, it is always changing–I am never bored! That said, it is by no means easy money. Blogging takes a lot of work, strategy and effort to get started. Sometimes it can take years before you see the results of that hard work. The most important driver is choosing a topic both you and your audience is passionate about, and then working to connect with readers and solve their problems.

You can create your blog using a free platform from WordPress.org, but you’ll need to pay a small amount – as little as $4 per month – to have your blog hosted. Try GoDaddy.com, which can provide a domain name for your site, email addresses, database storage and other Web hosting services. To make money, you can use the free Google AdSense service to display advertisements on your site. The amount you’re paid varies by ad and usually depends on how many people see it. There's also what's called affiliate marketing, in which you earn a commission (usually less than 10%) whenever someone clicks on an ad on your site and purchases a product. The Amazon Associates affiliate program allows you to advertise the retailer’s products on your site, or try affiliate networks such as CJ Affiliate or ShareASale that work with thousands of companies. Depending on how much time you put into your blog and how many people visit it, you could be making a few hundred dollars each month within a year.
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Save money on food. I recently joined $5 Meal Plan in order to help me eat at home more and cut my food spending. It’s only $5 a month and you get meal plans sent straight to you along with the exact shopping list you need in order to create the meals. Each meal costs around $2 per person or less. This allows you to save time because you won’t have to meal plan anymore, and it will save you money as well!
With Izea, you are getting paid for whenever a company wants to advertise themselves through your blog and/or social media accounts (such as your Twitter account). You get paid electronically, and they always pay. They partner with big name companies such as Marriott, Netflix, Walmart, Kraft, Lego, and more. It's an EASY way to make money through your social media accounts, so I highly recommend you check Izea out.
If you’ve ever wanted to try real estate investing but don’t want to deal with all the stress of being a landlord, you might want to consider investing with Fundrise. Fundrise is a new platform that allows you to invest directly in a real estate portfolio that a team of professionals identifies, acquires, and manages on your behalf. With a starting investment as small as $500, you get exposure to dozens of solid, value-producing assets.
You can create your blog using a free platform from WordPress.org, but you’ll need to pay a small amount – as little as $4 per month – to have your blog hosted. Try GoDaddy.com, which can provide a domain name for your site, email addresses, database storage and other Web hosting services. To make money, you can use the free Google AdSense service to display advertisements on your site. The amount you’re paid varies by ad and usually depends on how many people see it. There's also what's called affiliate marketing, in which you earn a commission (usually less than 10%) whenever someone clicks on an ad on your site and purchases a product. The Amazon Associates affiliate program allows you to advertise the retailer’s products on your site, or try affiliate networks such as CJ Affiliate or ShareASale that work with thousands of companies. Depending on how much time you put into your blog and how many people visit it, you could be making a few hundred dollars each month within a year.
Working as a freelancer is a great way to make money online from the comfort of your own home. The beauty of freelancing is that you can tailor it to suit your needs. You can freelance for a couple of hours a week in the evenings to help save up for a holiday or some much needed home improvements. Or carve out a full-time job for yourself, giving you a more satisfying work-life balance and enabling you to do the simpler things in life like taking the kids to school. With so many jobs available online, freelancing is becoming more and more popular.
Furthermore, carefully consider your likely attendees, and what schedule would be attractive to them. For example, if you’re planning on teaching a tutoring class, you obviously couldn’t schedule it during school hours. Likewise, a class aimed at mothers of young children will either have to include babysitting services or be scheduled at night, when they’re more likely to have help with the kids. Find the delicate balance of times that fit your prospective students’ schedules as well as your own.

Acorns rounds up your everyday credit and debit transactions and automatically invests the spare change for you. It's only $1 a month and free for college students with an .edu address for up to four years from the date of registration. You'll barely notice the micro-investments of spare change, plus the Found Money feature invests money in your account when you shop with Acorns partners such as Macy's, Nordstrom, and Walmart.

Ratings. Whenever someone buys a book from you, they will have the opportunity to give the transaction a rating. This is when they’ll tell other potential buyers whether the book was in the condition that you described, whether it was mailed on time, and if your communications were pleasant and helpful. One bad rating can hamper sales, and a couple of them can downright stop them. Excel at customer service and your ratings will help your company grow.
With apps being constantly developed, competent app developers are in high demand. Again, if you have the experience or skills to create successful apps then this could be something you could end up working on as a full-time freelancer. Check out adverts for developers on Toptal, a higher paying jobs site for experienced freelancers wanting to make money online.
@moxie1956 Thanks for sharing your experience with CashCrate.com. That’s certainly disappointing to hear that you weren’t able to make the $50-$75 a month that I expect. Maybe they are just going through a seasonal downturn or something. Like I mention above though, the real money with Cash Crate comes in the referrals. Find a way to consistently refer a large amount of people to the site.
Become a social media virtual assistant. Do you love Pinterest or Instagram? Many brands and bloggers do not know how to correctly use these social media platforms. Offer your expertise to coach or act as a social media manager. It’s a win-win: the brand gets the right type of social media exposure and you can make money doing something you enjoy.
Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission. Know that I only recommend products, tools and learning resources I've personally used and believe are genuinely helpful, not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to purchase them. Most of all, I would never advocate for buying something that you can't afford or that you're not yet ready to implement.
If you hook up with a for-hire car parking service (the type hired out for fancy neighborhood parties) you can make some nice cash tips in just a few hours at night and on the weekend, when parties are held. The key here is to do a great job by showing hustle and being super friendly. This was one of the most enjoyable jobs I had during graduate school. Who doesn't like to drive nice cars?
In an increasing visual Internet, website owners, bloggers, epublishers, video makers and more need quality photos for their content. The great thing is that you don’t need to be a professional photographer to make money from your pictures. Quality photos from your smartphone are often good enough to sell online. Most stockphoto sites pay 15 to 60 percent of the sale of your photo, usually through PayPal.
Drive for Uber or Lyft: If you're in a locale where you can find Uber or Lyft (or even one of the many competitors around the world such as China's Didi), you could easily make a respectable income. The hours are flexible and you can work as you see fit, making it perfect even if you currently have full-time employment but are looking to make some money on the side.
21. Facebook – Facebook swap shops are great for selling things locally. It’s like CraigsList, but a little easier. You simply search for swap shops in your area and ask to join the group. Once you’re in, take a picture of the item, write a quick description with the price and post it. It doesn’t get much easier than that. You can generally expect to get about what you would get at a yard sale, maybe a little more.
I started reading your e-newsletter since I found out about you from Mo Money Podcast. I love this content and I can tell you what my side hustle is that was not mentioned here. I have been a virtual translator via Upwork (freelancing platform). Since I’m originally from Japan, I started offering beginner to intermediate level translation last year. Since then, I have delivered over 6 dozens projects all satisfactorily. I like that each and every project is so unique and it really stimulates my brain and challenge myself to deliver high quality translation services. My hope is that one day when I get pregnant or want to stay home with my babies, I can just do this freelancing job and quit my 9-5 job. Upwork offers so many types of freelancing jobs other than translation, so I recommend to anyone who wants to capitalize their underutilized talents.
Not quite ready to start your own blog, but still like the idea of getting paid to write? You may want to consider trying your hand at freelance writing. Many bloggers and website owners are willing to shell out some serious cash for high quality writers. In fact, Holly Johnson from ClubThrifty.com makes over $200,000 per year from freelance work! And she has a course that teaches others how to do the same.
Find an audience for your passion or hobby and you’re all set to make money online doing something you love via a niche website. That of course, is easier said than done. Creating a profitable niche website takes time and is not intended for the faint of heart. But, if you can hurdle the steep challenges and positively answer a few key questions on whether the website business idea you’re thinking about is profitable, then you can begin building it and eventually monetize through advertising, affiliates, or other relevant products.

Right now on Upwork they are looking for more writers. Set up a profile and start offering up your fast writing skills. You can make decent money with freelance writing and some people are able to make it a full-time business. Check out this interview I did with a freelance writer who has had a lot of success and shares how to start a freelance business. Ready to get paid to write for blogs like mine? Check out this course, Get Paid to Write for Blogs, by my friend Catherine.

Similar to writing reviews, you can become a freelance writer and make extra money writing articles and website copy. While you don't have to be a professional journalist to write for a website, it helps if you've blogged or have your own website where you blog regularly. Even better is showing that you have some experience in the niche in which you're trying to find a job.
Not quite ready to start your own blog, but still like the idea of getting paid to write? You may want to consider trying your hand at freelance writing. Many bloggers and website owners are willing to shell out some serious cash for high quality writers. In fact, Holly Johnson from ClubThrifty.com makes over $200,000 per year from freelance work! And she has a course that teaches others how to do the same.
Walk around your neighborhood or town and I’m sure you’ll see tons of great local businesses with terrible design. However, with increasingly easy-to-use tools like Adobe Illustrator, Venngage, Stencil, and Visme, just about anyone with a creative mindset and a good amount of motivation can start making money online by being a graphic designer for local companies.
Open an Etsy store. If you have a creative talent or skill – whether it’s creating art, sewing clothes, or making keepsakes – you can open an online store on Etsy.com and sell your wares for some quick cash. With your own Etsy store, you’re left in charge of pricing and, ultimately, how much you make. See our detailed primer, “How to Make Money on Etsy.”
Drop shipping is another great ‘hands-off’ way to sell products. Firstly you will need to find businesses that sell products in your niche that offer a drop shipping service. Then you will need to create a website promoting and selling the products. When you make a sale, you take the payment on your site and then the manufacturer ships the goods to the buyer. The profit comes from charging a higher rate than the manufacturer, and if you are selling a high number of products this can quickly add up to a healthy revenue.
In case of the latter, you will have to spend money on domain name and server hosting space that can cost you between Rs 3,000-Rs 5,000 a year. Self-hosted blogs have an added advantage that it allows you to customise elements and functionality of your website. In case of the former, you need to make peace with the tools and plug-ins made available by the service provider.
Domain name trading has been around for the last couple decades, and while most slam-dunk names have long been sold off, there’s still plenty of others that you can get your hands on for relatively cheap and broker as a way to make money online. Before you dive in, however, beware that some experts doubt the long-term viability of this idea for making money online. However, there’s always the change you might just land on a lucrative domain name for a future billion-dollar company. To get you started, here are some tips from GoDaddy, arguably the world’s largest and most famous repository of domain names.
The audiobook industry is booming, yet only 5% of books ever get made into audio format. If you’ve got a background in acting, or if people have said you’ve got a voice made for the radio, you can make extra money recording audio versions of independent and popular books. Sites like ACX connect authors with audiobook performers. So, whether you’re an author looking for more ways to sell your book, or an actor/voice actor looking to make some extra income, you can sell your services online.
Content is what drives web traffic. Websites are always pumping out fresh, new content for their readers, and they are always looking for writers! If you aren’t quite ready to launch your own blog yet, this might be a good option to see if writing is for you. Since competition is high, we don’t recommend starting from scratch as a freelance writer. Want to see success faster? Learn from a veteran, six-figure freelance writer.
Surveys aren’t the best way to make money fast. But there’s a certain appeal to clicking a few buttons and earning money when you’d otherwise be doing nothing. Here’s our recommendation: Sign up for these legitimate survey sites all at once. Chances are, you’ll qualify for at least one or two surveys on each site a month, and the rewards will add up.
Re-selling web hosting will enable you to make money hosting your own client’s websites. Large hosting companies like HostGator allow you to white label their hosting services. You could start your own hosting business or, if you are a web designer, include hosting into your web design packages. And the best of it is the hosting companies take care of the hosting for you, so all you need to worry about is selling.
Anyone who has ever googled “work from home” or “make money from home” knows that the web is overflowing with sites proclaiming you can make thousands from the comfort of your living room, most of the time requiring you to first buy a book, CD, or DVD to learn how. Since there is so much of this garbage out there, it can be frustrating looking for legitimate ways to work from home. Below are some reasonable ideas to consider.
@Philip Taylor I was merely using medical science as an example profession. It’s quite obvious that you don’t have any professional courtesy and downplay professions in which you don’t understand. Logo design isn’t just logo design. I don’t know what the profession of a public accountant entails, or a lawyer perhaps, so I’m not going to give advice on matters that I don’t especially have knowledge in.
And ThunderCock… design isn’t just logo design. It’s brand development. Without it, there wouldn’t be major companies being recognized in their commercial standing in the world. IE. Nike, Microsoft, Apple, American Express, etc. Without brand identity, they would just be another company in the field with nothing noteworthy except the fine-print that the consumer will not read out-right . Brand identity combined with strategic marketing methods make for strong company understanding to the consumers. Without consumers, thees companies would be nothing.
Take good pictures. Some of the options below don’t require you to actually take the picture and sell the product, but for the ones that do, make sure you take a clear picture that makes your product stand out from the others. If you’re going to be taking a lot of pictures, set up a small “studio-like” area in your home with a backdrop and proper lighting to really make your pictures come across as professional. And of course, you’ll want a good camera too.

If you're serious about making money online, start a blog. Blogging is one of the easiest and most sustainable income sources. As long as the blog is setup the right way, in the right niche, with the right content targeted at the right audience, and the offer is complementary to the content, you could make a tremendous amount of passive income from a blog.

If you’ve ever wanted to try real estate investing but don’t want to deal with all the stress of being a landlord, you might want to consider investing with Fundrise. Fundrise is a new platform that allows you to invest directly in a real estate portfolio that a team of professionals identifies, acquires, and manages on your behalf. With a starting investment as small as $500, you get exposure to dozens of solid, value-producing assets.